Fire At Old Wallaceburg Plant (Gallery)

Still no definite word from fire officials on damages or a cause after a rooftop blaze at the former H&B building in Wallaceburg.

“The building has been vacant for a number of years and has no hydro or gas, so we’re leaning towards that it was an intentionally set fire,” says Assistant Fire Chief Rick Arnel. “The fire was very hard to get at and the fire suppression system was not operative, so it was all done manually with aerial ladders and trucks.”

Brett Moorhouse, who works next door at Lambton Conveyor, says crews made quick work of the blaze.

“First thing I saw was just grey smoke and then we went over to look and we saw the flames coming out of the building. But from my desk I was watching the whole thing as it went,” says Moorhouse. “The fire department showed up pretty quickly and they started getting setup and it didn’t seem like there was too much urgency. And they got a couple ladders up there and started spraying water on it. And it didn’t take long before it seemed like it was under control.”